Apóstol Cocktail Recipe

Apóstol
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Ingredients:
3 pinch	Cinnamon powder (ground)
1 ¹⁄₃ oz	Bacardi 8 year old rum
¹⁄₂ oz	Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
¹⁄₂ oz	Lustau San Emilio Pedro Ximénez Sherry
¹⁄₃ oz	Dark crème de cacao liqueur

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Snifter/Brandy balloon glass.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
FLAME cinnamon powder on a suitable surface and upend glass over smoking cinnamon and leave to capture smoke while mixing ingredients.
STIR other ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into cinnamon-smoked glass.
EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Pedro Ximénez sherry - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Rich and cinnamon spiced with chocolatey raisin, this stirred spirituous cocktail is a great after dinner cocktail.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe created for Bacardí Legacy 2017 by Grace Tsai at Bar 21, Tainan, Taiwan.

Inspired by the history of Bacardí family and production process of Bacardí Gran Reserva 8 Años rum, 'Apóstol' mixes this rum with dark chocolate and cinnamon. The spirit, aged in a dark, damp barrel for more than eight years, symbolizes the painstaking process of achieving success. The burning of the cinnamon powder symbolizes war and suffering, while the bitter-sweetness of the dark chocolate symbolizes hard work and the eventual sweetness of success.

As a follower of Don Facundo Bacardí Massó, the meaning behind my Legacy cocktail is not only my own experience as a bartender but also the 'untameable' spirit of Bacardí.
Grace Tsai, 2017

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Ruth Harvey

28th June at 05:05

Decided to just make a rim on the glass of cinnamon powder but will definitely try the flame technique when we have more time as this cocktail was delicious. It was sweeter than I expected.

Matt

4th April at 04:08

Used a generous 1/4 t of ground cinnamon on foil and a kitchen torch to ignite. Amazing nose - smoke and modest (but distinct) cinnamon. Cool on the tongue (a bit of a surprise with the smoke) and smooth, a little burnt mashmallow in the initial taste, transitions to spicy rye and rum, with some smooth chocolate at the end. This is a fascinating treat. I note that the nose in later tastes was not appealing - like burnt meat - I took off 1/2 star for that. I think I'll try the Beil trick (below) next time, to see if I get a better residual smoke note.

Caleb Hudson

19th March at 02:23

This drink is also excellent served over a large coffee ice cube or sphere!

G. M. Genovese

5th October 2024 at 10:10

Andreas - the foil approach I will have to try. I've long kept the lids from the tin canisters of Islay Scotch, so I used one of them as the 'suitable surface'. I don't know if it's as effective as the foil, but it seemed to work. My snifter was also too big for the lid, so some smoke may have escaped... Like John suggested, the drink stands on its own without the smoke, but the smoke definitely adds a pleasant perfumy accent.

Andreas Beil

17th March 2023 at 23:08

… pour the cocktail in the glass and cover it again to swirl the liquid. Following this, I got an intense smoky flavor just right, without fancy smoking equipment.

Andreas Beil

17th March 2023 at 23:06

A fine, tasty and grown up cocktail. Here is my trick for the cinnamon smoke: place the powder on a small piece of aluminum foil, put the glass upside down over the cinnamon, and wrap the foil tightly around the glass. Then lift the glass, the foil with the cinnamon down, and heat the foil for a few seconds with a kitchen burner (like for crème brûlée). Thus, the cinnamon doesn’t fly away und the smoke is trapped in the glass until the liquid is mixed. Remove the glass, cover it with something…

Andy Parnell-Hopkinson

2nd January 2023 at 23:10

Grace has a point about the suffering trying to ignite cinnamon powder. Next time I'll use a stick. Otherwise really excellent.

John Hinojos

9th October 2022 at 03:30

This is a perfect cocktail to cap off a wonderful dinner or sip during great conversation. The ingredients all combine together to create a rich rum and dark chocolate flavoured cocktail. Only thing I did not do is the cinnamon smoke as I do not have the right equipment, but it still was outstanding without that step.